Solomon Kane [Blu-ray]

Great

Owned this on DVD but recently purchased a Blu-ray player so decided to take the plunge and make the switch. This film did not disappoint!!! The visuals are so much richer and there are definitely things you can see which you can't in standard definition. The audio is also much improved on the standard version. I also think there is extra footage which is a bonus

Based on a character created by Conan's Robert E. Howard and unreleased in the US after failing to set the international box-office alight, Solomon Kane turns out to be a surprisingly satisfying sword and sorcery adventure that gets away from the usual barbarians and lets loose its mayhem in a 17th century England ravaged by plague and unrest. James Purefoy's Kane is a cruel and sadistic soldier of misfortune who, discovering he's bound for Hell and the Devil is eager to claim him, tries to walk the path of peace only to find the Devil's minions forming an army and enslaving the good and is faced with the choice of fighting evil with evil and losing his soul or turning the other cheek. No prizes for guessing which he chooses, but writer-director Michael J. Bassett takes his time establishing the character and his friendship with Pete Posthlethwaite and his family en route to a new start in the New World so that when he finally decides that going to Hell is a price worth paying it actually carries a bit more weight than you might expect.At times slightly reminiscent of Witchfinder General, albeit in a world where the witches are real, the second half is never quite as good as the first and the finale fizzles out a little when Jason Flemyng's sorcerer reveals himself and an impressively realised but under-utilised fiery demon appears, but it's still enjoyable enough to make you forlornly hope that the DVD sales were good enough for a sequel somewhere down the line. Purefoy makes a surprisingly convincing tormented hero, even looking a little like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in a couple of scenes, while Pete Posthlethwaite offers a beautifully underplayed supporting turn that manages to inject a little emotion into a couple of moments. Few of the rest of the cast get as many opportunities - Alice Krige, Rachel Hurd-Wood's damsel in distress and Patrick Hurd-Wood, appropriately cast as her younger brother do what they're required rather better than they need to but Flemyng and Max Von Sydow have too little to do and make little impact. Bassett has enough old-fashioned craftsmanship and a good enough eye for his locations to give the film a decent sense of scale that raises it above the average exploitation film and, while the action scenes could be better they're still more than decent delivering in many ways the kind of film you suspect Van Helsing wanted to be if it had been made with less money and more imagination. All in all, quite a pleasant surprise.The UK BluRay offers a fine 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with a good array of extras - two audio commentaries, deleted fight scene, making of documentary, cast and crew interviews, picture-in-picture storyboard comparison (not available on the DVD), design gallery and trailer among them.

A excellent action adventure fantasy run time 1h45 region b on bluray brand new as described many thanks to the seller

Of all the extremely numerous Robert E. Howard stories, those describing the adventures and tribulations of Solomon Kane are amongst the most succesful - and also possibly the hardest to film. Therefore one must already give a good point to Michael J. Bassett for even trying to tackle this great classic of fantasy/adventure letters. In my personal opinion, this film managed well to reproduce the ultra-dark style of Solomon Kane stories, but was less succesful in picturing the "hero" himself - and that notwithstanding the really good performance of James Purefoy.After reading all the stories about Kane, I personally came to believe that he was not entirely alive - for me Solomon Kane was a kind of spectral shade of a man, paroled from the Purgatory and released on Earth to track the worst kind of warlocks, witches and all other kind of people using the surnatural to commit evil deeds. I was comforted in this feeling by the fact that he seemed never eat, drink or sleep and in all his dealings with people he was as laconic, cold and distant as possible. Also, Kane is always described as gaunt and grim with almost dead eyes, but still looking at the world with a kind of cold intensity. Now, for this movie, James Purfoy created a Kane who was quite grim and threatening, but not even close to the one from the books - his Kane certainly looks very dangerous but no one would mistake him for a vengeful wraith!Even more important were the mistakes in the scenario. Kane is supposed to be a Puritan, and this allegiance strengthens considerably his dangerosity (Puritans were after all as fanatical as today's jihadists) - but in the beginning we see him living in a monastery, an institution which for a Puritan would be the very forteress of Devil and his Papist servants! After that we see Kane gently entertaining (totally innocently) a beautiful damsel - which is completely against the character from the stories! Finally, I believe that giving Kane a background and explaining it, was at least partially a mistake - this character was so cool in the books because he was a complete mystery. The one thing known, was that he was a man with mission and that very probably that mission was in the same time his redemption and his pennance - but his past and especially the horrible sins he had to atone for were unknown. By removing this veil of mystery, I believe the character in the movie was harmed.That being said, if one discards Robert E. Howard stories, this film is very honest. Some of the episodes in the movie were borrowed from others Howard stories (especially the "Conan" series) but they were very skillfully included. The subplot including Kane's family was not half bad - even if as I stated before I believe it would be even better if it was not included... The episodes with the witch and the lone priest in the abandoned church were excellent! The villains were very evil and the ultimate foe is very impressive. And the whole visual aspect of the film is excellent. James Purfoy plays admirably. Rachel Hurd-Wood is certainly a delight to contemplate - gosh, did this girl grow well since "Peter Pan"! Last but not least, it is one of the last occasions when we could admire Pete Postlethwaite considerable talent, which sadly is now no more available...Bottom line, this is a very honest fantasy/adventure movie, although definitely not a masterpiece - you just need to forget a little about Robert E. Howard stories if you want to appreciate it and spend a nice popcorn/movie evening.

tres beau

J'ai bien aimé

Muy buena pelicula

J'ai découvert ce film sur une bande annonce et je suis très satisfait, très bon film je recommande.

Me ha gustado, no llega a la excelencia pero no está mal.